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Holmesglen student Kin Nam Kong says furniture designers enjoy being challenged and finding innovative ways of working. If you share the same ambitions, a furniture career could be right for you.

The MSF40222 Certificate IV in Furniture Design and Manufacturing is ideal for those who want to design and make furniture.

Holmesglen offers the course as a full-time study option to be completed over one year at our Chadstone campus. As a non-apprenticeship course, you will not need a contract with an employer.

If you want to sample the industry and make sure it’s right for you, as well as gain some valuable foundation skills, we also offer the MSF20313 Certificate II in Furniture Making, which is on the Free TAFE List for eligible students.

Furniture designers look at sustainability, ergonomics, customer style preferences and practicality.

“I chose to study furniture design because I had been in the building and furniture-making industry for my whole life, but I'm also very creative. I wanted to also design furniture, not just build it,” says Certificate IV student Elisa Saarinen (pictured below)

Graduates go on to explore this mix of creativity and functionality when working as a:

• fine furniture maker
• furniture designer
• furniture producer
• caravan interior designer.

Other students use a furniture making course to start their own business or launch a new creative idea.

"I want to start a YouTube channel for my woodwork. I’d like to share my ideas with people who love this work,” says Kin.

Furniture designers work with their hands and minds. Whether they are working individually, as part of a team, or running their own business, respected and successful furniture designers share many professional traits.

Furniture design student Will O’Sullivan believes a furniture designer should always strive to:

• gain as much industry experience as possible
• stay up to date with modern technology, as well as learn traditional techniques
• be creative and good at drawing
• have good communication skills
• maintain a good knowledge of different materials and how to use them.

From fine furniture for display, custom production to furniture for volume production, our workshops are equipped to teach students about the core furniture design process.

“It’s really hands-on and we spent most of the time in the workshop building things and learning new skills,” says Elisa.

Our students are also encouraged to form industry connections and submit their work to competitions.

Holmesglen furniture design students take part in Fringe Furniture, as part of Fringe Festival. The competition is described as an “experimental playground” that provides an exhibition for the best emerging furniture designers.

Our students’ creativity is also highly sought-after by the community. Certificate IV students designed a hall stand and lamp, made from an historic hoop pine tree, which now resides in Government House. Oakleigh MP Steve Dimopoulos commissioned a coffee table, for which students drew design inspiration from the surrounding area.

Find out what you can achieve as a furniture designer at our furniture and upholstery courses page.